Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These must usually be searched in person.

Manuscript Collections

Major manuscript collections and compiled genealogies for Maryland include:

Daughters of the American Revolution (Maryland). Genealogical Collection. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1971. (On 30 Family History Library films beginning with 859284.) This collection consists of transcripts of Bible records, cemetery records, church records, marriage records, death records, obituaries, and wills. The volumes are generally arranged by county, and many have individual indexes.

Holdcraft, Jacob Mehrling. Obituaries, Bible Records, Church Records, Family Genealogies, County Records, etc. for Frederick County, Maryland, 1800-1977. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1975, 1977. (On 59 Family History Library films beginning with 1001455) This card file has 250,000 alphabetical references emphasizing records of Frederick County and also includes material from neighboring counties in Maryland and Pennsylvania. This collection is housed in the Maryland Room, located in the C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 E. Patrick St., Frederick, MD 21701, Telephone 301-600-1368.

The Dielman-Hayward Card File. This collection includes over 400,000 names organized alphabetically. It contains births, marriages, deaths, and other biographical items taken mostly from Maryland newspapers from the late 1700s to about 1990. This collection is at the Maryland Historical Society.

WPA-HRS Index. The Baltimore City Archives has petitions, licenses, bonds, War of 1812 and Civil War muster rolls, police reports, correspondence, burial records, coroner's inquests, and other records from 1756 to 1938. The Historical Records Survey produced a helpful index to over 233,000 names found in these records. Most of the names are from 1810 to 1890. The Baltimore City Archives will search the index and collection for a $4.00 fee. The Maryland State Archives has a copy of this index.

Provincial Families of Maryland Collection. This is a small but growing collection of information about families who lived in Maryland prior to 4 July 1776. The collection is open to the public at the Maryland State Archives.

Writing and Sharing Your Family History

Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:

It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.

It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.

It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.

It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.

Published Sources

Some major published genealogical collections and indexes for Maryland are:

Maryland Genealogies: A Consolidation of Articles from the Maryland Historical Magazine. Two Volumes. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980. (Family History Library book 975.2 D2m). This two volume publication is also available on CD-ROM from Genealogical.com

Passano, Eleanor Phillips. An Index to the Source Records of Maryland: Genealogical, Biographical, Historical. 1940. Reprint, Baltimore, Malryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1967. (Family History Library book 975.2 D22p.) This volume is a 20,000 name index to printed and manuscript sources at the DAR Library, Maryland Historical Society, and other archives.

Virdin, Donald Odell. Maryland and Delaware Genealogies and Family Histories: A Bibliography of Books about Maryland and Delaware Families. Bowie, Maryland: Heritage Books, 1993. (Family History Library book 975.2 D23vm.) The Maryland families are in alphabetical order.

Parran, Alice Norris. Register of Maryland's Heraldic Families. Two Volumes. Baltimore: Parran, 1935, 1937. (Family History Library book 975.2 D2pa.) Both volumes were sponsored by the Southern Maryland Society Colonial Dames. Volume two includes index to volume one and an addendum.

National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maryland. Register of the Maryland Society of the Colonial Dames of America, 1891-1938. Two Volumes. Baltimore, Maryland: The Society, 1915. 1915, 1940. (Family History Library book 975.2 C4n; fiche 6019836).

Crozier, William Armstrong. A Key to Southern Pedigrees: Being a Comprehensive Guide to the Colonial Ancestry of Families in the States of Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Alabama. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Southern Book Company, 1953. Digital version at FamilySearch Books Online - free.

Rider, Fremont, ed. American Genealogical- Biographical Index. Volumes 1-206+. Middletown, Connecticut: Godfrey Memorial Library, 1952-. (Family History Library book 973 D22am ser. 2; on 31 Family History Library films beginning with 1698167.) This is a continuing series. It contains over 4 million brief citations (name, date, and source) to manuscripts, periodicals, and books.

An earlier version of 48 volumes was published as The American Genealogical-Biographical Index, 1942-1951. This earlier version indexed 350 sources. The second version includes the original 350 sources and an additional 800 sources.

To help interpret citations and find the original sources, use the colored pages in volume ten of The American Genealogical Biographical Index or:

Clark, Patricia L., and Dorothy Huntsman, eds. Key Title Index to the American Genealogical-Biographical Index: Register of Family History Library Call Numbers. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990. (Family History Library book 973 D22am index; film 1698167 item 4; fiche 6088377.) This work shows which sources are at the Family History Library and gives their call numbers.